Mercedes-Benz Middle East & Levant has announced its best monthly sales results ever for the month of May, and a 49 per cent increase in sales from January to May, as against the same period in 2011.

The March launch of the all new M-Class pairing performance with sophistication has spearheaded Mercedes-Benz SUV growth, key to expanding market share for the company in 2012.

With an increase of 56 per cent in sales, the new M-Class has already laid a very strong foundation of success for Mercedes-Benz’ ‘Year of the SUV’ 2012 strategy, a statement said.

The top of the range S-Class of SUVs GL also performed well for Mercedes-Benz off-road vehicle range sales, increasing 34 per cent while the G-Class continued to bolster its status with a further 11 per cent increase.

SUV sales will be spurred by the recent GLK and flagship GL model launches later this year, according to the statement.

Affalterbach’s Mercedes-AMG performance division year to date sales accelerated by 28 per cent versus 2011, showcasing the success of the ‘Year of AMG’ strategy. The boost was largely driven by new models including the CLS 63 AMG and the C 63 AMG Coupe.

Beyond AMG and SUV, Mercedes-Benz saloons contributed strongly to year to date sales lead by the sporty and powerful new generation C-Class, up 19 per cent, and the luxury executive saloon segment leading E-Class, up 20 per cent.

Frank Bernthaler, director, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Cars, Middle East & Levant said: “Our two pronged SUV and AMG sales strategy has proved to be highly effective in growing market share.”

“With the all new M-Class creating the success we planned for and further SUV and AMG models in showrooms soon, we expect to continue to see sales figures race skywards towards our push for a record year, even through the blistering summer months.”

Regional sales highlights include Bahrain up 85 per cent, Oman up 44 per cent, Saudi Arabia up 31 per cent, Kuwait up 27 per cent, Abu Dhabi up 19 per cent and Dubai up 13 per cent. – TradeArabia News Service